Jail: Suspect identified as inmate in drug smuggling case

Staff ReportMay 16, 2019

Mohave County Sheriff’s deputies announced an update Wednesday in the case of five county jail inmates who were allegedly treated for drug overdoses last month.

Investigators say that inmate Jonathan Hutchinson, 24, of Parker, smuggled 30 counterfeit Hydrocodone pills into Mohave County Jail, as well as an unknown quantity of methamphetamine. After five inmates were transported to Mohave County Jail April 16 for alleged drug overdoses, jail staff conducted a search of the inmates’ housing unit.

A small amount of the substance was located, deputies said, allegedly in the possession of inmates Michael Pauly, 29, of Nevada; and Anthony Colella, 52, of Lake Havasu City.

According to deputies, the pills were transported to an Arizona Department of Public Safety crime lab for examination, and were determined to have been created with the use of a synthetic opioid, Fentanyl.

The case will be forwarded to the Mohave County Attorney’s Office for charges against Hutchinson, Pauly and Colella.